1. Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present inventive concept relate to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly to a method of estimating a self refresh period of a semiconductor memory device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A semiconductor memory device may be used to store data and to read stored data. Generally, semiconductor memory devices may be categorized as volatile semiconductor memory devices or non-volatile semiconductor memory devices. The volatile semiconductor memory devices may include dynamic random access memories (DRAMs) and static random access memories (SRAMs). There are some distinct differences between the volatile semiconductor memory devices and the non-volatile semiconductor memory devices. For example, the volatile semiconductor memory devices lose the stored data when power is off, but the non-volatile semiconductor memory devices retain the stored data even when the power is off.
Depending on a structure of memory cells, the volatile semiconductor memory devices may lose the stored data due to a leakage current even while the power is supplied. Thus, in such volatile semiconductor memory devices, the data stored in the memory cells need to be refreshed in order to prevent a loss of the stored data.